Most Maltese Businesses Have No Idea How Much They're Paying For Telephony And Internet

The Business Perceptions Survey for the period December 2016 – March 2017 showed that respondents generally showed a lack of awareness as to their monthly expenditures on the products and services purchased from local service providers.

Most local business owners lack awareness of how much they’re spending on electronic communications services, according to a survey carried out by the Malta Communications Authority (MCA).

The Business Perceptions Survey for the period December 2016 – March 2017 showed that respondents generally showed a lack of awareness as to their monthly expenditures on the products and services purchased from local service providers. Of those businesses that are aware of their monthly expenses on the services under investigation, the majority feel that their monthly expenditure is reasonable.

Survey findings indicated that the majority of local businesses are largely satisfied with their interaction with electronic communications service providers operating in Malta. With a significant majority of interviewed companies having a subscription to fixed telephony (90 per cent) as well as fixed broadband (86 per cent) along with a significant proportion of businesses offering their employees with a mobile connection (41 per cent), the general perception is that the services purchased are of a good quality and offered at a reasonable price.

Also, of note is that only a small percentage of respondents reported having made a switch between operators in the last two years. For example, only 5 per cent of respondents having a fixed broadband connection reported having changed their operator over the last two years, and only 6 per cent in the case of respondents having a mobile subscription. This somewhat corresponds to the survey finding of a perceived high level of quality of service being offered by local service providers to their business clientele. Notwithstanding this, a segment of respondents still perceive switching to be an inconvenient process and that switching to alternatives would not meet their business requirements.

Usage of mobile broadband is also quite widespread practice among local businesses, with 51 per cent of interviewed businesses stating that they make active use of the service, particularly for chat-based and voice-based Over The-Top services (OTTs). These businesses have also shared a highly positive perception as to the quality of service they get when using mobile broadband.